Tod Daniels

I am always amused/amazed at the number of foreigners who get their name in thai script tattooed on their arm. While it may be helpful in finding the correct appendage should your arm become severed, I believe it has little redeeming value.

Especially seeing as NO ONE in what ever country you come from can read thai.

When I am asked how to spell a foreign name in thai (so whoever can get their incredibly cool and enviable thai script tattoo), I always think about it a while and then use:

รีทาด

Which if read by a thai comes out as the english word RETARD...

This has to be one of the funniest, yet one of the most inane threads on T/V.

You gotta love the sincerity in the line:

"Be careful of kissing the coughing ones. .. ..."

That just about says it all.

Good of him to pass out such incredibly helpful information.

I may make a t-shirt out of it. Although I am sure it won't out sell the "I met YOUR wife a Nana" shirt..

P/S: After reading the previous post by "orchis" I would say; NEVER EVER kiss coughing taxi drivers. …

His post is more than slightly misleading.

I am American and in Thailand on a 30 day entry stamp

From this you can see he is NOT on any visa, but entered "visa exempt" or "30-day-free-2-stay" stamp..

upon talking to Immigration in Bangkok they say that I can not apply for another non-immigrant "O" visa because I only have a few days left on my current entry stamp, and that I need to have 21 days left on any kind of visa or entry stamp in order to apply for a new non-imm "o".

Suan Plu is correct, and they have signs in (I believe) room 303 which is the room you go to for change of visa that you need 21 days left on the stamp of your current entry into thailand. What I believe he misstates is they didn't say he couldn't apply for "another" non-o visa, just that he can't apply NOW with so little time left on his current stamp.

Last year , blah, blah, blah

Last year is unfortunately, last year…

What he is trying to do IS change the status. He is here under a "visa exempt" status and wants a Non-O. This is something ROUTINELY done; IF you have 21 days left on your "30-day-free-2-stay" visa exempt stamp.

He can, run to the border, enter again on visa exempt status (IF he hasn't used up his visa exempt entries), after entering, go right down to Suan Plu, and change to a Non-O, as he'll have plenty of time left on the stamp. If he has used all his visa exempts he can go to a neighboring country and get a tourist visa, come in and do the same thing.

It may be of interest to note that the FCCT (Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand) is screening the uncut version of Ploy tonite at their headquarters.

Here's the link:

http://www.fccthai.com/TheBulletin.html#Ploy

Usual disclaimer, I have no affiliation with the FCCT and only offer this information out as I receive their updates to events.

Congratulations on getting the visa..

While the O/P's post is short, the information contained in it is of value to ANYONE wanting to take a thai to the US.

As once can see from the post; the applicant demonstrated more than adequate thais to this country. He IS employed. He already has 2 trips to Korea and 3 Canadian tourist visas; showing he does indeed return to thailand (from more developed countries) when the visa is up.

All in all, the only thing the processor and/or interviewer at the US embassy want to see is IF the applicant is going to leave the US when they are supposed to. It comes down to documentation, prove you've got thais here and you can most likely go visit the US.

Too many people come on and complain how they were not able to get their barely educated, unemployed, no bank account, no asset holding paramour a visa to the US. Even someone who is NOT a rocket scientist can see a person like that doesn't exactly fall into the important category of; "most likely to return to their country of origin", now do they?

The rules are the rules. To live here as a foreigner you play by thai rules, however convoluted or randomly interpreted. To go to the US as a foreigner especially from a third world developing country, (which shares no border with the US) you play by the US's rules.

Good luck. Let us know how long the visa is valid for once you get the passport back.

The short answer to your question is of course, YES YOU ARE STUPID.

But I would rather quote the movie Forrest Gump, and say, "Stupid is as stupid does..."

About the only thing you could do which might possibly be more stupid or 'stupider', would be to take anything 'bravingbangkok' says as advice. (in fact take the 180 degree opposite and you're closer to the mark).

I think something is rotten in errr Nakhon Nowhere or where ever it is you happen to live. You would be well served to either as the other posters have mentioned, "find/grow a set of stones", or just roll over and die now so your wife and her "nephew" can move along with their lives.

BTW I have no idea if the alleged "nephew" is in fact the object of the wife's affection but clearly the O/P is NOT.

It is only too apparent that the language gaffes go both ways.

What is also apparent is each person posting (other than the perpetually sour grapes foreign basher Maigo6) is taking it in stride and having a good laugh with it.

The amount of poorly spoken engrish I have misheard here would fill a novel. However I am sure it pales to the amount of mangled and misunderstood thai spoken by foreigners which the diminutive inhabitants endure in our endeavor to learn their language.

Great stories, keep 'em comin'. ...

"RakJungTorlae": still trying to get your post count up there with the 'big dogs' by your well thought out inane remarks I see….

Sad that the O/P came to an anonymous internet forum to get advice, (which BTW: is the WORST vice in the world), only to get offended when what he was offered didn't fit his preconceived idea of the answer he wanted.

If he knew the answer already why come here? Then he throws out an oblique religious quote, before bidding us a fond adieu, quite puzzling really.

Thais are BIG money borrowers, and it is NOT inconceivable that his wife could have facilitated some friend in this practice. I know too many thais who simply pay the interest on the loan and carry it over, never making a dent into the principal.

What does make the mind wobble has been reiterated by previous posters; why was there a YEAR time lapse before his wife mentioned it to him, and as "jfchandler" pointed out how could he speak to a lawyer about something that is done thru loan sharks or money lenders without contracts?

I am also sure the second he reported it to the British Embassy they put an entire team of inspectors on this appalling incident forthwith. I am sure investigating the actions of a thai national's personal conduct IN of all places thailand is right up there on their list of important things to do.

Again another "mafia" post. I am truly shocked at the evidently HUGE number of mafias at work in the glorious "Land 'O Thais". How can you tell them, by their secret handshake?

The incessant references to the evidently hundreds of "mafia" groups ('beggar' mafia, 'taxi' mafia, 'moto-taxi' mafia, 'tuk-tuk' mafia, not to mention the 'litter police' mafia, and lest we forget, the ever heinous 'rabid soi dog' mafia or the equally subversive 'blind karaoke singer beggar' mafia) becomes a very tedious read after a while.

I doubt most posters could spot a 'mafia character' if they stood beside you.

Another mindless paranoid post about the injustice of it all, oh the humanity. .. ... .

This may be of interest to the foreign armchair political pundits on the forum;

Reforming Thailand's Politics

An evening at the FCCT to discuss the controversial PAD proposal for a ‘New Politics’ for Thailand

Tuesday, September 30, at 8:00 pm

with buffet dinner at 7:00 pm (Please see pricing and reservation procedure below)

Please join us for a debate on the most pressing issue now confronting the country - how to reform its political culture and institutions so that they enjoy the trust of all sectors of society.

The speakers will be:

- Kasit Piromya, former Ambassador to Washington and Tokyo, and now a supporter of the People’s Alliance for Democracy.

- Korn Chatikavanij, Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party

- Chris Baker, author and lecturer on Thai politics

-----

Members: No cover charge, buffet dinner is 350 baht

Non-members: 300 baht cover charge without buffet dinner or 650 baht for buffet dinner including cover charge

Reservations: To ensure sufficient food for the buffet, we would greatly appreciate your making a buffet reservation at least one day before the program if you plan to join us for the dinner. (No penalty for cancellation if last minute conflicts arise.) Please also note that tables/seats will be reserved only for those with advance buffet bookings. To reserve, please call 02-652-0580-1 or click here to send an e-mail to [email protected]

**Usual disclaimer; I have no affiliation with the FCCT, and only offer this information up as something of interest given the current political situation. Then again, given the often times narrow & myopic views expressed here, maybe not. .. ...

I used to raise bantams in the US, and have perused the live animal section of Jatujak Weekend market many times looking for silkies but never found them.

Unless I am mistaken the O/P is looking for this type, although they come in many colors and the ones in the pic aren't the best quality, feather-wise;

Being an American; I can always go to my embassy and pay the outrageously high "notary fee" for proof of residence, which I think is 1020 baht.

OR

I can pay the 100 baht fee at Thai Immigrations.

Hmmmm, tough decision. ..

I know, let me make a post about 63 baht and the injustice of it all.

Sadly the Thai Consulate in Vientiane has gotten swamped with visa runners since the enforcement of the "3-free stamp" rule and the lack of Thai Consulates in other neighboring countries to be accommodating.

It is a miracle they haven't cracked down, raised the ever elusive 'bar' higher to issue visas, or like Savaneket, Penang just started stamping your passport not to come back.

In my experience the main thing that slows the processing time in the line is an almost total lack of preparedness on the part of the myriad of applicants. Add in stupid questions, coupled with ignorance and you have a line that at times seems to move backward.

I concur with the previous posters; arrive early, plan for contingencies, and by all means STAY a couple days and see Vientiane.

I found this in a post Lopburi did last month:

"the One Stop Center, floor 16 Rasa Tower II at Soi 19 Phaholyiothin Road, just North of Central Plaza Latphao".

As far as Jomtien and the newly needed paper to show you live here...

Just when you think you know how things work, they raise the bar, lol.. TIT after all..

I had a friend do his 90 day reporting at Suan Plu yesterday and another one did his today. NEITHER had to show anything other than their passport and the correctly filled out TM.47 (Alien Staying Longer Than 90 Days) form.

The O/P mentions the TM.7 which is NOT a 90 day reporting form, but an extension of stay form. Maybe the story got confused because of that. I reported at Suan Plu last month and needed nothing but the TM.47.

Then again, the ways the various immigration offices interpret, and enforce the rules differs widely. I do agree with the poster who said the "One Stop" Office is far less hassle, as a friend went there last week and said it was NOTHING like the semi-controlled chaos at Suan Plu.

I would not worry overly much about the regional "accents" and/or dialects. Believe me EVERY thai in this country here can speak/understand "Central Thai", as its the "official" language. It is also the only one taught in school or spoken on television.

Different areas will have different words that are specific to that region, just as we do in the US, but speaking central thai you will always be understood. I learned thai and live in Bangkok yet I am understood all over the country.

The advice offered by a previous poster about learning to read is critical to differentiating words in this language, and while you may be intimidated initially, it is far easier to learn to read than to speak clearly.

Any method of learning thai by transliteration or by 'karaoke thai' is fraught with peril, and the 'official' government transliteration doesn't even differentiate vowel length or tone. That is why there are many different systems by various authors of thai language books. Sound files from either online resources or c/d's can help a great deal.

As an example; if I write the word "khao" in English, can you tell me what word it might be in thai? Is it; 'enter', 'he/she', the word for 'knee', the color 'white', the word 'rice', the word 'news', or a 'bad smell'? BTW; the above words are all spelled completely different in thai.

Good luck, don't give up...

This topic seems to come up more and more, but then again recycling topics on any forum is good for new members who haven't yet mastered the search function or who want imput and information on something in "their life" at the moment.

I agree with the premise that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Unfortunately the thai women I have seen with foreign husbands have for the most part fallen woefully short of my definition for "beauty", no matter how much I try to "grade on a curve".

While my definition of beauty may not be yours, that fact doesn't bother me one iota. Just as my opinion on the subject shouldn't bother, vex, annoy or make anyone feel their opinion is somehow less valid.

I concur with the poster's who said it is wrong to categorize good or bad people by nationality. Those traits are specific to individuals of EVERY race, creed, and color of human beings on this planet.

Sadly that is usually the problem with generalities. .. … they are so general.

(edited for spelling & clarity)

Quite an interesting change of heart from the foreign-bashing "Maigo6". Perusing his past posts; I have never before seen him the slightest bit sympathetic to a foreigner's plight here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais".

Will wonders never cease

To the O/P's conundrum, I say kick out the extended family, as I am sure they lived somewhere else before deciding your wife's house was a better gig for them. Sadly I find your statement; "our house" dubious. I believe in all likelihood, it is in fact, your wife's house with you being merely the financier of said house.

.....

Jesus H Christ, ......

Jesus Mary & Joseph, .....

For Christs sake.........

For Christs sake .....

And so endeth the sermon.

It seems Maigo has moved one step closer from believing other's shouldn't have views he doesn't agree with to claiming his own divine authority.

Is he Thai ?

No ,just a wannabee , he seems to forget that what (little?) intelligence he has came from a country OTHER than Thailand which enables him to THINK about what he writes , screaming bloody hel_l about some-one elses thoughts or points of view just because they are not in line with his own infers he is a borderline Thai nationalistic moron , shame realy , because he is quite a sage individual on some posts , even bordering on sanity .

I have rarely met a more dyed in the wool, "card carrying member" of the color coordinated shirt and matching bracelet wearing 'wanna-b-thai' faction than "Maigo6". It now seems from his previous post he has divine inspiration in his corner as well.

From time to time he will offer bits of wisdom and/or display intuitive intellect. However his endless soap-box rhetoric in ridiculing foreigners while defending the diminutive and ever so shallowly smiling inhabitants here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" can be a quite tough to plod thru (very nearly as tedious as my posts; which are based at the opposite end of the proverbial viewing spectrum).

While I am a foreigner and the political unrest affects me little, I am concerned that thais are fighting thais over differing views.

I am working on a t-shirt idea. It uses the Ying/Yang symbol but in red and yellow to show the two opposing factions.

Above the symbol I will put:

One country; thailand

One people; thai

Below the symbol I want to put:

Don't fight

Work together

As it is a t-shirt a wordy discourse is not practical. It has to be easily read by thais in passing, a snappy slogan-like sound byte if possible, and obviously gramatically correct.

This is what I have worked out in thai:

หนึ่งชาติ ชาติไทย

เราเป็นหนึ่งประชาชนชาวไทย

อย่าสู้กัน

ร่วมมือกัน

If anyone can tell me if the above actually makes sense and/or conveys closely the english I used initially, I'd appreciate it. Nothing worse than making a shirt that is unintelligible. ..

This topic has been beaten to death, only to rise from the ashes like a mythical Phoenix. You say farang, he says falang, for what ever reason. It's a worthless and pathetic point to argue about how to spell a thai word in English, but argue away as it shows your vast superiority.

BTW; No matter how poorly your (in)significant other pronounces it, learning to read thai script (even marginally) would immediately show that there is NO "L" in the word: ฝรั่ง. That being said; thais routinely blur their r's and l's. I have found a distinct correlation between education (or lack thereof) and the degree they slur the two letters. Even newscasters when they are in a heated discussion will slip up. It was such a big deal that the government launched a countrywide promotion several years ago with commercials, posters, and famous spokespeople trying to get the populace to speak their ร's and ล's distinctly.

Now without further ado: BACK ON TOPIC

For the most part, I take the term ฝรั่ง with a grain of salt, especially up country where foreigners are scarce as hens' teeth. However in the city, especially anywhere tourists are plentiful or congregate; I take it as either just plain rude and/or offensive, depending on the context in which it is used. Hearing it makes me listen to what ever they're chattering on about.

Unfortunately the O/P's initial posting, (which somehow got hi-jacked by the differing factions on the forum) shows that he was in a fairly up-scale (for thailand) area, and I believe there was actually NO reason to be labeled like he was.

If this is the worst thing you have to contend with in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" living amongst the ever smiling, yet diminutive inhabitants; you need to get out more or find a hobby, believe me.

I think the most important lesson America could learn about "thai democracy" (if there is such a thing) is:

Don't host a cooking show while your Prime Minister

Sadly given the information you have provided, I would guess she would be denied a Tourist Visa to the US.

First off, it has NOTHING to do with the shaky thai government and everything to do with the US one, as that's where you're wanting to go.

*She's self employed - does she pay tax?

*Small amount in the bank - how long as she had the account, does she run everything thru the account to show it is an active account, or is it just a small lump sum sitting there?

*She lives with her parents, at the same apartment - do they own it or rent it?

Despite your valid status here it doesn't mean you can't buy a ticket to the US tomorrow and bail out of thailand; so what are your "thais" here other than her?

Although I wish there was; sadly there is NO manpower to track down errant people who overstay their visa once in the US. The burden of proof is upon the applicant (your g/f) to prove she's gonna leave the US when her visa expires. She would have to demonstrate she has sufficient 'thais' to this country to return. Not owning any land, not owning a vehicle, not working for someone who will write a letter stating she can resume her job when she returns, not having much in the way of finances, can and do work against her.

I go to the US Embassy many times in a month and sometimes it looks like a bad nite in the Nana Hotel parking lot down there; the old fat guys in their cheap Singha Beer shirts with their much younger, tattooed "thai-in-tow" applying for a visa to go to the US. Believe me people are denied every day for different reasons, but most due to not sufficient "thais" here to guarantee a likely return when the visa expires. The reverse is true as well, and I know many thai friends who have visa's to the US, and have visited many times. They are usually married to US citizens, engaged in business, have tangible assets here which would ensure their return etc.

You're out nothing but time, effort and a little money to try to get her approved, so give it a shot. The rules are easily understood, the paperwork self explanatory (in english) and the procedures fairly straightforward. Above all, what ever you do, DON'T lie about anything they ask, believe me this isn't their first go-round and they can see thru deception.

Good luck, you might bounce your situation off Greg Lange of SunBelt Asia as they deal with this a lot. They will also tell you up front if you're likely to be approved or just pissing in the wind.

Saw it last Thursday, the day it opened in Bangkok. Mostly because I watched them film some of it at the Sheraton Grande & Soi Cowboy.

It wasn't a bad way to spend a mindless afternoon. Even on opening day it was just 140baht at The Emporium, so a bargain compared to going to a newly released movie in the US or UK.

Predictably Cage made all the typical "tourist" blunders; wai'ing everyone and their soi dog, choking on spicy thai food, speaking two-word-thai backwards, but for the most part it was well worth the $4US it cost to see it

I must concur that I was also amazed at the stuff the censors let slide thru. There was no "blur ball" obscuring guns, nudity with girls, or severed limbs spouting blood.

Unfortunately the trailers they were showing leading up to the movie had about every good action scene, so nothing really new. I thought it was a bummer he killed himself at the end too.

I'm looking forward to Tropic Thunder. ..

In my humble opinion; the glorious "Land 'O Thais" and their ever smiling yet diminutive population is NO different than the population of any other country in the world. To categorize men in a country as this or that is useless. It is the individual who is good or bad, crazy or sane.

I have had my interactions with less than desirable people in MANY countries. Tourist areas in any country are about the same. They are filled with people looking to take advantage of the tourists.

I associate more with more thai women but it's by virtue of my employment than by actual choice. For the most part the thai 'working class' (what ever their sex) I associate, interact and/or have gone out with have been fine people, just trying to make a living, and further their lives.

I do concur with the poster who mentioned once alcohol comes into the picture the ability to accurately predict a situation can go quickly out the window. However, this can be said for any culture or race of people, as alcohol is the great playing field leveler. It can bring out the worst of any nationality. Once your inhibitions are lowered, your perceptions skewed, and your mind numbed, people do/say things they would ordinarily keep inside.

Unfortunately I must disagree that all thai men be painted with the same brush. I have seen my share of "crazy foreign men" and their less than ideal antics here. Antics, I might add, which made me feel uncomfortable being a foreigner here. Believe me we are all tarred with the same brush until proven different. Stereotyping is a dangerous double edged sword (always hold it by the handle with the sharp end pointing away from you).

Then again, as I don't know the O/P nor where they 'hang out', I couldn't comment on validity of their observations. Just because it has not been my experience doesn't invalidate it as being theirs. (The O/P's reality may not be compatible with mine, but that's okay too.)